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Formal principle and material principle are two categories in Christian theology to identify and distinguish the authoritative source of theology (formal principle) from the theology itself, especially the central doctrine of that theology (material principle), of a religion, religious movement, tradition, body, denomination, or organization.
The Elementary Forms of Religious Life (French: Les formes élémentaires de la vie religieuse), published by the French sociologist Émile Durkheim in 1912, is a book that analyzes religion as a social phenomenon. Durkheim attributes the development of religion to the emotional security attained through communal living.
Religious values are usually based on values reflected within religious texts or by the influence of the lives of religious persons. [1]Known as the ‘Indigenous Religious Values Hypothesis’, the origin of religious values can be seen as the product of the values held by the society in which the religion originated from. [1]
Some examples of this are found in the definition provided by Clifford Geertz, who defines religion as a "Cultural system." [ 2 ] Furthermore, Max Weber 's prominent definition of a religion includes the idea of a ' Church ', not necessarily in the Christian formulation, but insisting on the notion of an organized hierarchy constituting a ...
Ronald Wimberley (1976) and other researchers collected large surveys and factor analytic studies which gave support to Bellah's argument that civil religion is a distinct cultural phenomenon within American society which is not embodied in American politics or denominational religion. [5] Examples of civil religious beliefs are reflected in ...
Religion is the substance, the ground, and the depth of man's spiritual life." [83] When religion is seen in terms of sacred, divine, intensive valuing, or ultimate concern, then it is possible to understand why scientific findings and philosophical criticisms (e.g., those made by Richard Dawkins) do not necessarily disturb its adherents. [84]
However, the term is used by some authors to refer to a broader category that includes other patterns of religious practice. Most notably, Christian scholar D. G. Hart uses this term to compare and contrast the practices of evangelical Protestants and what he calls " confessional Protestants" (for example Anglicans and most Lutherans ).
While the word religion is difficult to define, one standard model of religion used in religious studies courses defines it as [a] system of symbols which acts to establish powerful, pervasive, and long-lasting moods and motivations in men by formulating conceptions of a general order of existence and clothing these conceptions with such an aura of factuality that the moods and motivations ...